Eggman the Video Game AU
by GuardianDragon98
Summary: Sonic and Shadow had talked about coming out to the rest of their friends before. But they never thought that stopping Eggman's latest scheme and saving the world would lead them to make their relationship publicly known. The universe really liked messing with them. Boom-verse Sonadow (don't like yaoi, don't read). Rated T for some cursing.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everybody :) This will be my last Boom-verse Sonadow work for 2019. After this, I'll be continuing and finishing "My Past is Not a Pretty Place."**

**I might make another full-length Sonic fanfic set in the IDW Comics when the whole Metal Virus saga's over. I wanna see how it ends because… yikes… Ian Flynn and his crew are really giving us a quadruple dose of angst with the latest issue… **

…**Anyway! Enjoy this more light-hearted Sonic Boom story!**

**NOTE: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE SONIC CHARACTERS!**

* * *

**Eggman the Video Game AU**

**Part 1: In Which Shadow Gets Royally Pissed-Off**

Amy groaned as she struggled to get up. Dimly, she was aware of Eggman flying around on his Eggmobile with a couple of camera bots at a safe distance – leaving her, Sticks, Knuckles, and Tails at the mercy of Metal Sonic.

The robotic version of Sonic had been upgraded: tougher armor, enhanced speed, and programmed with every single one of the team's known attacks, making it impossible to gain the upper hand. Whatever Eggman was planning in sending out the metal menace to thrash them, it was all working out fine for him.

Using the last bit of her strength, Amy turned on her wrist communicator. "Sonic… _Help_…" she pleaded before letting her head hit the ground in defeat.

* * *

At Hazard Jungle, meanwhile, Sonic was blissfully unaware of Eggman's plans as he and Shadow nearly pissed themselves while laughing at Eggman's poorly-edited video.

"It's so bad that it's hilarious!" Shadow guffawed, clutching his stomach as he leaned back in his beanbag cushion when he heard Eggman's edited footage of Sonic call him a 'windbag.' Honestly, if the Doctor had been trying to rile him up into attacking the blue hedgehog, the least he could have done was to get a proper video editor to make the footage look believable.

Sonic wiped a tear away from his eye. "Dude, this puts those elementary school slide presentations to shame! What was Egghead thinking?!" he wheezed, giggling.

"Obviously, he was trying to make me angry to attack you so he could have reference footage for the video game he's making." Shadow chuckled at his boyfriend's surprised look. "I bugged his lair. Any plan, complaint, or evil monologue, I'll be able to hear it," he said, taking his phone out of his quills.

"Sneaky," Sonic remarked, grinning. He turned off Eggman's wrist communicator (which Shadow had so very sneakily stolen earlier) then turned to Shadow. "You know I'd never call you those things, right?" he asked, his emerald eyes soft.

"Of course not. Your insults would be far more creative," Shadow told him, his ruby orbs looking lovingly at him.

"I'd just settle for calling you _Faker_, which I don't really do anymore." Sonic shrugged, his blue ears flicking as his wrist communicator pinged.

"Sonic… _Help_…"

'_That sounded like Rose…' _Shadow thought while Sonic frowned, getting up.

"Something's up…" the Blue Blur murmured. Amy sounded like she was in a lot of pain, which could only mean either of two things.

One. She wanted to talk about her feelings.

Two. Eggman's latest attack had left her and/or the entire team wounded.

In this case, Sonic had a sinking feeling that this transmission was a Two.

"I gotta go," Sonic said, pressing a quick kiss to Shadow's cheek before speeding off in the direction of Hedgehog Village.

Shadow furrowed his brow then got up and sped after him.

* * *

"THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE SONIC." Metal Sonic focused his red eyes on the Blue Blur and rocketed towards him.

'_Shit_,' Sonic thought as he narrowly dodged a full-body tackle. Tucking into a Spin Dash, he launched himself at Metal Sonic. He yelped as his body collided with cold hard metal. Metal Sonic didn't even get a single dent!

"Egghead give you an upgrade, Metal?" Sonic asked rhetorically, rubbing his sore head. He tried a homing attack, leaping high into the air and tucking into a ball.

But, just as Sonic was about to home in on Metal Sonic, the robot flew up and punched him out of the sky. The blue hedgehog crashed into the ground, leaving a large crater. Groaning, Sonic struggled to his feet.

"R-Run…" he coughed to Amy and the rest of his team before Metal rushed at him and grabbed him by the throat.

"Sonic!" Tails screamed, limping towards his hedgehog brother. Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks struggled to their feet, their eyes wide with horror as they watched their speedy blue friend be choked. They had to save him!

"THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE SONIC," Metal Sonic repeated in his cold, emotionless voice as his metal claws wrapped themselves tighter around the struggling blue hedgehog, lifting him an inch off the ground.

Sonic kicked his legs frantically, lungs desperately trying to take in more air, his hands scrabbling uselessly at Metal's fingers. Just when he felt like he was going to pass out, Metal suddenly went limp and released him.

Collapsing onto his hands and knees, Sonic coughed and gasped for air before looking at Metal Sonic. A Chaos Spear had penetrated the robot's metal shell. And standing behind Metal was a furious Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Thanks…" Sonic wheezed out, rising to his feet, and gave Shadow a thumbs up.

Giving his boyfriend a curt nod, Shadow set his sights on Eggman, the mustachioed villain going pale and quickly sounding a retreat. His robots quickly swooped in and retrieved Metal Sonic before joining their creator. "Would you mind?" Shadow asked Sonic, who shook his head.

"Nope. He's all yours, Shads," Sonic replied, already heading over to his friends and helping them to their feet.

Jet shoes blazing to life, Shadow raced off. He had a certain egg-shaped villain to Chaos Blast into oblivion.

* * *

Eggman gulped as he felt his entire lair shake. He'd just gotten all the footage transferred into his master computer before his monitor showed a royally pissed-off black hedgehog repeatedly slamming into the door. While he was straight-up terrified of Shadow at the moment, Eggman couldn't help but wonder why his grandfather's creation had rescued the spiky blue pineapple that was his archenemy. He'd hoped that Shadow would take the bait and would be on the warpath against Sonic and his annoying friends. When he hadn't shown up to battle Team Sonic, Eggman had had to resort to deploying Metal Sonic to do the job instead.

Whatever was Shadow's reason for assisting Sonic, Eggman didn't have time to wonder about it. Right now, he had to find a place to hide where he could fix Metal Sonic.

"Your new teleportation guard is working wonderfully. But I fear your wall won't hold up much longer," Orbot reported as Eggman hastily put together his toolkit and prepped Metal for transport.

Eggman gulped as Shadow turned to the camera. "Eggman! Come out, you coward!" the Ultimate Lifeform roared. If looks could kill, the Doctor would have been a smoldering pile of ash in mere seconds.

"I think it would be best if I gave this Shadow guy some space. Orbot! Cubot! Stall him!" Eggman barked, tucking Metal Sonic under his shoulder and activating his spare wrist controller.

Another thing Eggman wondered as a pneumatic tube pulled him upward to his lair's roof: How the hell had he not noticed Shadow steal his original communicator from him earlier? And why?

* * *

"Where is he?"

Shadow paid no attention to the dust and plaster landing on his fur. All he cared about was getting his hands on the Doctor and making him pay for hurting his Sonic.

Clenching his fists, Shadow stomped over to the Doctor's two robot lackeys. "Where. Is. He?" he growled lowly.

"Uh… where is who?" the cube-shaped lackey asked.

'_I don't have time for this,' _Shadow thought before easily decapitating the two robots and smashing his way through the roof. He caught sight of Eggman fleeing on his Eggmobile and felt his blood boil. He was not going to let Eggman get away with all of this!

Activating his jet shoes, Shadow raced after Eggman. He managed to get within shooting range and charge up a Chaos Spear before a bright flash from the Eggmobile's rear lights momentarily blinded him.

Yelling out in anger, Shadow furiously blinked his eyes. Once his vision cleared, he saw that Eggman was gone. "Damn!" he cursed before looking down and noticed that he was hovering right above the beach where Sonic and his two-tailed fox brother had their homes.

Sighing, Shadow landed on the beach. He heard voices coming from inside the larger building that he assumed belonged to the fox kid and made his way over. Just as he was about to enter, Shadow remembered.

'_If I just go in there, Sonic's friends are going to get suspicious…' _Shaking his head, Shadow debated with himself.

He and Sonic hadn't made their relationship public and only a select few knew about it. If he just waltzed in there and started tending to Sonic, the others would immediately want to know why. He and Sonic had talked about coming out before, but they hadn't really thought about how they would want it to happen.

'_I could just leave right now… but Sonic nearly got choked to death earlier. He could have severe bruising on his throat or there may even be damage to his windpipe! Oh, screw it! My boyfriend's well-being is more important than what everybody else will think of our relationship!' _Shadow thought, taking a deep breath, and pushing the door to Tails' workshop open.

"Need some help?"

* * *

**Forgot to mention that this is a two-part special. Next chapter's coming in later ;)**

**-GuardianDragon98**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's Part 2. Warning: there's adorable fluff and flirting between two gay hedgehogs here ;)**

**NOTE: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE SONIC CHARACTERS!**

* * *

**Part 2: In Which the World is Saved and Shadow Joins Team Sonic**

Sonic couldn't help but smile at the sight of his boyfriend standing awkwardly in the doorway. There was a faint blush on Shadow's cheeks as he stepped inside Tails' workshop. Glancing at his friends, Sonic mentally sighed as he saw the shocked and even wary looks Amy, Knuckles, Sticks, and Tails were giving the Ultimate Lifeform.

"Guys, it's cool. Shadow's on our side," he told his friends, giving the Ultimate Lifeform a soft smile.

"What?!" Tails exclaimed, clutching his sore head. "Sonic, he joined Eggman's gang of villains last season!"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Please, those hooligans can barely commit a felony to save their lives," he said coolly, heading over to Sonic. Then his face softened as he gently cupped the cobalt speedster's face in his hands, gently turning his head left and right.

"Oh, Chaos, I should have reduced that robot to a pile of scrap the moment I saw him. Look what he did to you…"

Amy, Knuckles, Sticks, and Tails all looked at each other the minute they heard Shadow murmur those words. And the way the biohog was being so gentle with Sonic, who smiled shyly as he sat and let Shadow inspect him… it was really out of character for the normally stoic and edgy hedgehog.

What was going on?

"Shads, it's fine," said Sonic, chuckling slightly. Honestly, it was kind of adorable when Shadow got all protective.

"No, it's not. You were nearly strangled and I couldn't even catch the Doctor and make him pay…" Shadow mumbled, his ears flattening against his skull.

"We'll settle the score with Egghead some other time, Shads," Sonic reassured him, gently nuzzling his boyfriend.

"Okay." Shadow pouted playfully at him. "But I get to hit him first," he insisted.

"Deal." Sonic winced as he looked at his friends and the bruises they were all sporting. "Hey, can you do me and the team a favor and grab some ice?" he asked.

With a nod, Shadow teleported out of the workshop.

"Alien!" Sticks squeaked, staring open-mouthed at the spot where Shadow had been.

"Technically, Shadow's a hybrid of alien and hedgehog…" Tails trailed off when he saw Sticks go pale. "But d-don't worry. He's not the type who brainwashes people or anything like that!"

"Sonic… what's going on?" Amy gave the Blue Blur a sharp look, her hands on her hips.

"Um… Yeah… Haha, about Shadow…" Sonic rubbed the back of his neck, sweat beading his forehead. _'Chaos, this is _not _how I envisioned my coming out to go like…' _he thought.

Before Sonic could continue, however, a portal opened and out stepped Lord Eggman.

"_There _you are, blue beaver! Finally, I can take you on, one-on-one," Lord Eggman declared, grinning maniacally.

"_Finally_? We fight all the time!" Sonic checked the villain's get-up and realized that it wasn't the same Egghead. "Oh, wait, are you that emo Eggman from the alternate dimension?" he inquired.

"I'm not "emo"! I just don't care for garish colors, okay?!" Lord Eggman barked, igniting his laser sword.

Sonic scoffed and did a spin attack at the Eggman doppelganger only to be repelled by a swing of his sword. He tried again and nearly faceplanted on the floor, grimacing as his bruises throbbed. But he had to stand up and fight. "Sweet moves, Lord Nosehair," he complimented Lord Eggman. He could definitely give _Doctor _Eggman a run for his money in terms of being a genuinely dangerous supervillain.

Leaping back, Sonic charged at Lord Eggman, using the extra momentum from his initial strike to spin drive him through a wall.

'_Ooh, I should not have done that…' _Sonic thought, feeling his entire body ache after crashing through the wooden wall. He barely dodged a swing, hissing as Lord Eggman's laser sword left a scorch mark on his chest, and another that burned through one of the support beams.

Suddenly, just as Lord Eggman was about to raise his sword to strike again, a blur of black and red collided with him and knocked him away from Sonic.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Sonic sighed with relief then cringed as he saw Shadow hitting Lord Eggman with a large bag of ice.

"Touch one more quill on his head and _I! Will! Fucking! End! You!_" Shadow yelled, punctuating each word with a hit.

"Okay, Shads. Shads. _Shads_!" Sonic quickly went over to his enraged boyfriend and pulled him off of a stunned Lord Eggman before the guy ended up with serious injuries. "Shadow, _calm down_. This guy's not even our Eggman," he said firmly.

"Alternate dimension or not, Blue, he still hurt you," Shadow pointed out, glaring daggers at Lord Eggman.

"And you've made him pay for it. Now, I think we could use some ice," Sonic soothed him before pointing at the bag Shadow still had an iron grip on. The bag already had a rip and ice cubes were falling out of it and melting on the floor.

Shadow had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry…" he mumbled, handing Sonic the bag.

Sonic laughed softly and kissed Shadow. "I'll let you tie him up. But no more hitting, deal?"

"Deal." Shadow turned to Lord Eggman and smirked. In no time, he'd already tied the alternate dimension villain and gagged him with a cloth.

The rest of the team came outside and Sonic helped them ice their injuries. All the while, Shadow kept his eyes trained on Lord Eggman, the villain whimpering in fear.

"Okay, Sonic, seriously, what the _heck _is going on between you and Shadow? Why is he helping us?" Tails demanded, his twin tails spinning agitatedly.

Sticks looked at the two hedgehogs, who blushed, then folded her arms across her chest and smiled. "Ah, so my eyes _weren't _playing tricks on me during that one night in the jungle. You two are a couple!" she announced.

Two jaws dropped open as Sonic and Shadow stared at the semi-feral badger while the rest of Team Sonic collectively shouted, "WHAT?!"

Even Lord Eggman let out a muffled, "Whoa!"

"Wha…? Sticks…" Sonic put a hand to his head, looking at the smug badger in shock. "_How?_" he asked.

"You and your beau really thought I didn't see you two hiding out in that tree that night? Even before that, I could _smell _you guys from a quarter-mile away. In fact," Sticks told him before looking at Shadow. "I bet you two have been seeing each other ever since Mr. Alien Hybrid here showed up the first time on the island."

For a minute, Shadow merely stared at Sticks. Then he calmly smiled. "Hmph. I have to admit, Blue. She's crazy, but she's observant," he said to Sonic who sighed and threw his hands up in the air.

"Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag…" Sighing, Sonic sidled closer to Shadow and let the biohog wrap an arm around his waist. "Yeah, Shadow and I are dating. Secret's out," he announced.

"But didn't Shadow join forces with Eggman a while back?" Knuckles asked, narrowing his eyes at the black-and-red hedgehog.

"Ever heard of 'double agents,' Knuckles?" Shadow asked sarcastically.

Sonic lightly elbowed him in the ribs before looking at the three of his four friends who were, frankly, still reeling from the revelation. "Guys, Shadow's been working with us this whole time. I asked him to come here and be our spy," he explained.

"But isn't Shadow still working for G.U.N.?" Tails cocked his head.

"Nope. Rouge and I retired a couple of weeks ago. I'm here at Sonic's request," Shadow replied, lightly bumping his hip against Sonic's.

Amy looked at Sonic, her jade eyes suspicious, the blue hedgehog swallowing nervously.

"Look, Amy… I-I know that you've had a thing for me for a long time but…" Sonic managed to say before the pink hedgehog interrupted him.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Almost three years."

Sonic bit his lip as Amy and the rest of the team processed the information. He pressed himself against Shadow's side, seeking comfort, and calmed down a bit when Shadow gently pressed a kiss to his temple.

Finally, Amy sighed and gave the two a smile. "Well… if that's how it is," she said before looking at Shadow. "Shadow, take good care of him."

Tails went right up to the couple and looked at them, his expression unreadable.

"Tails, I-I'm sorry… I didn't know how to tell you…" Sonic apologized, his ears pinned flat against his head. He could have kept his relationship with Shadow a secret from Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks – knowing that they didn't know Shadow well enough like he did and would understandably freak out – but Tails…

Chaos, Tails was his little brother. And brothers shouldn't keep secrets from each other but he went on and did it anyway…

"Does he make you happy?"

The question Tails gave him surprised Sonic for a split second before he smiled when he saw his two-tailed fox brother's baby blue eyes look at him, filled openness and trust and not a shred of anger or resentment.

"Yeah. He does…" Sonic smiled at Shadow. "He makes me happier than mere words can express," he said softly.

Nodding slowly, Tails then looked at Shadow. "Shadow, do you love my brother?" he asked seriously.

"With all my heart," Shadow readily replied, nuzzling Sonic.

That was enough for Tails and he smiled at the couple. "Good. Because you know I'll only let my big brother date someone who will treat him right," he said.

Sonic laughed and hugged Tails, ruffling the fox kid's fur. "Thanks, buddy," he whispered.

"Almost three years, huh?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow at Shadow. The echidna chuckled. "And here I thought Sonic was terrible at keeping secrets," he remarked, a bemused smile on his face. Then his face became serious. "So what do we do about this guy?" he asked the group, motioning to Lord Eggman.

"Obviously, we need to find out where our dimension's Eggman is," Amy declared, walking to the tied up villain and removing the gag.

"Ha! Like I'll talk!" Lord Eggman cackled.

Amy merely nodded to Sonic who then turned to Shadow and gave him the "after you" sign. Shadow went over to Lord Eggman and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.

"_Talk_," Shadow snarled, his eyes shining with barely-contained rage.

"Your Eggman's in another dimension! My dimension! I'll let you use my Portal Generator so you can go get him!" Lord Eggman shrieked, fearing for his life.

Once Shadow let him go, Sticks reached into Lord Eggman's pocket and pulled out the Portal Generator. Tails pressed the button and a portal opened.

"You guys keep an eye on Lord Eggbutt," Sonic told his friends then looked at Shadow and grinned. "Shall we?"

Smirking, Shadow held Sonic's hand and, together, they entered the portal.

Shadow looked around the alternate dimension Hedgehog Village. "That's a strange color for the sky," he remarked, looking up at the pink sky.

"There are a few similarities to our dimension, though," Sonic told him.

Shadow nodded, his senses now on high alert. "Where's Eggman?" he wondered out loud, ready to throw a Chaos Spear at the pathetic excuse for a supervillain.

"It's a whole different place. Eggman could be anywhere," Sonic pointed out.

A laser blast punctuated his last sentence, both hedgehogs barely dodging it and getting knocked off their feet.

"Or he could be right there," Sonic deadpanned as he and Shadow got up to find a now-repaired Metal Sonic standing a few feet away from them.

Eggman laughed evilly as he floated in the safety of his Eggmobile. "You know Metal Sonic, right? He's been upgraded with all the video game motion capture data I recorded," he told the two hedgehogs.

Shadow quickly grabbed Sonic, pulling him out of harm's way as Metal fired another blast at them. Growling, he dashed forward, intent on reducing the robot to a pile of scrap. Metal flew out of Shadow's reach, grabbing a street sign and using it as a quarterstaff against him.

Sonic went around and lunged at Metal from behind and grabbing the street sign before Shadow got hit. But Metal was prepared, bucking Sonic off of him before swinging the sign at Shadow. He swatted the couple again when they came at him a second time while Eggman laughed as he enjoyed the battle.

Undeterred, the two hedgehogs regrouped.

"We have to coordinate a spin attack from opposite sides," Sonic told his boyfriend.

"Got it." Shadow nodded and they split up. Shadow struck first from the left, hitting Metal with a barrage of Chaos Spears that the robot dodged, giving Sonic time to strike from the right. It soon became a close combat fight as both hedgehogs tried to land a hit on Metal Sonic.

Sonic snarled, his anger evolving into rage when he saw Metal Sonic punch Shadow in the chest and heard the sound of ribs being cracked as his boyfriend was forced onto his knees. Seeing Shadow in pain was the last straw that broke the cobalt hedgehog's back.

"No. One. Hurts. _My. Shadow!_"

Metal Sonic was not prepared for the uppercut from his flesh and blood counterpart followed by a volley of Homing Attacks that sent him flying helplessly through the air. Sonic was on the warpath, landing hit after hit on his robotic double.

'_I love him so much…' _Shadow thought, awestruck, as his boyfriend launched one more Homing Attack on Metal that sent the robot crashing to the ground.

Sonic landed back on the ground and helped Shadow to his feet.

"That… was amazing," the Ultimate Lifeform breathed out, grinning.

Sonic shyly smiled, his cheeks turning pink.

But the couple barely had time to celebrate as Eggman pulled out a rocket launcher and a badly-dented Metal Sonic shakily stood up.

"Take that!"

The blast struck the ground between Sonic and Shadow, sending them flying. But the Doctor had made one critical error: he'd left the Portal Generator sitting on the edge of his Eggmobile. The blast from the rocket launcher shook the craft, causing the device to fall to the ground and open up another portal.

"Sonic! The portal!" Shadow pointed to the way home just as Metal Sonic recovered and came back. He and Sonic rushed forward and tackled Metal Sonic, sending him and themselves back to their dimension, where the fight continued.

Dodging laser blasts from Metal and rockets from Eggman, Sonic and Shadow raced around Tails' workshop then headed to the canyon and, finally, cornered Metal outside the Village Center. Despite his armor being badly-dented due to Sonic, Metal was still capable of fighting.

"We gotta end this now…" Sonic panted, already feeling the strain. Beside him, Shadow was already showing signs of fatigue and clutching his side.

"An Atomic Strike." Shadow turned to his boyfriend, his red eyes blazing. "We just need to immobilize him long enough for us to use that move on him," he said.

Seeing Amy, Knuckles, Sticks, and Tails arrive with Lord Eggman in tow, Sonic smiled. Wordlessly, he gave his friends the command and Team Sonic joined the fray. Metal Sonic attempted to fly to safety but his legs were caught by Knuckles and Sticks' Enerbeams. His arms were immobilized by Amy's and Tails'.

That gave Sonic and Shadow the opportunity to strike.

Running as fast as they could go, both hedgehogs entered into two separate Spin Dash attacks and circled around Metal Sonic. As they gained speed, an electrical field formed around Metal Sonic that pulsed and sparked as Sonic and Shadow went faster and faster and faster. Soon there was a large pulsating electrical field surrounding Metal Sonic.

"Take cover!" Tails yelled to the team as Sonic and Shadow reached the peak of the electrical field.

Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks heeded Tails' advice and they all dove for cover just as Sonic and Shadow jumped out of the electrical field and unleashed it.

There was a brilliant flash of light and the air crackled with lightning bolts as an Atomic Strike attack struck Metal Sonic, sending a wave of electricity spreading out through the village.

Panting, Sonic and Shadow kept their stances wide as the smoke cleared. Upon seeing Metal Sonic lying in a heap on the ground, the two hedgehogs looked at each other, grinned, and fist-bumped.

"We hadn't used Atomic Strike in years," Shadow remarked.

"We still got it." Sonic grinned then frowned. "You okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Apart from a few cracked ribs, I think I'm good," chuckled Shadow as he rubbed his side. Sonic smiled and hugged him, causing him to yelp, "Owww! Nope! Broken! Yep, definitely _broken _ribs…"

Before Sonic could freak out and start calling for a medic, Shadow whispered in his ear, "Head to my man cave. Take the radio apart. You'll know what to bring to me."

Sonic didn't need to be told twice. He must have broken the sound barrier at least twice in his haste to follow Shadow's orders. In three seconds' flat, he returned… with the red Chaos Emerald.

"There was a Chaos Emerald here on this island?!" Eggman exclaimed in shock while Lord Eggman let out a confused noise that was muffled by the gag around his mouth. Sneakily, Eggman picked him up and left the scene while Sonic and his friends were busy gawking at the Chaos Emerald.

Sonic handed the Emerald over to Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform tapping into the jewel's power to heal his injuries. Once he felt his broken ribs fully heal, Shadow passed the Emerald over to Sonic so he could use its power to heal himself.

"Where did you get that?" Knuckles asked, looking at Shadow suspiciously.

"Rouge gave it to me before I left the mainland," the black hedgehog replied, taking the Emerald back from Sonic. He noticed Sticks staring at the jewel and cradled it protectively in his hands, silently telling the badger that it was his. _'If I let her take it and she loses it, Rouge will kill me,' _he thought to himself.

Team Sonic crowded around them, cheering and celebrating their victory. But the victory was short-lived as they realized that they'd left Lord Eggman unguarded. Turning around, all six Mobians saw that _both _Doctor Eggman and Lord Eggman were gone!

"With both Eggmen in this dimension, there will be a catastrophic anomaly that will destroy our entire universe!" Tails alerted the team.

'_Shit.' _Sonic and Shadow looked at each other, feeling like idiots for letting the two villains get away.

Storm clouds started to cover the sky and a fierce wind began to blow.

"Oh no! The anomaly's already beginning!" Amy gasped.

"We gotta find those Eggmen, fast!" Sticks said, her face serious.

"Tails, what's the plan?" Sonic turned to his little brother who already had a plan.

"If I can piece Metal Sonic back together, I might be able to use its built-in homing beacon to lead us to Eggman," Tails said, heading over to the defeated Metal Sonic.

Nodding, Sonic turned to Amy, Knuckles, Sticks, and Shadow. He caught Shadow's eye and they both smiled.

"Great! Tails, you're on that. Everyone else, let's get searching."

* * *

While Tails headed back to his workshop to repair Metal, the rest of the group went Eggman-hunting. Sticks took the Tornado and searched the sky. Amy and Knuckles donned scuba gear and searched the ocean's depths.

Meanwhile, Sonic piloted Blue Force One over the lava-filled forest just South of the canyon, where Shadow was searching.

Suddenly, Tails' voice sounded from his communicator. "Sonic! Metal's beacon is homed in on Eggman, but he's moving too fast! I can't keep up!" the two-tailed fox said, frantic.

Stopping Blue Force One, Sonic looked up and saw Metal Sonic flying in the direction of the canyon. "Thankfully, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" he declared, flying Blue Force One to the canyon where he got off with the Portal Generator and was joined up by Shadow.

"I think I know where he's headed!" Shadow grabbed his boyfriend's free hand and led him through the canyon and into the jungle in their chase after Metal. A lightning bolt nearly struck the couple but they continued on their chase.

Finally, they saw Metal arrive at the entrance to Shadow's man cave.

"Of all the places…" Shadow muttered, spotting the two Eggmen helping themselves to snacks from his mini-fridge.

When they saw the Ultimate Lifeform, both Doctor Eggman and Lord Eggman screamed and tried to hide behind the duvet. Unfortunately, Shadow easily grabbed them and dragged them over to Sonic as he opened another portal.

"Lord Eggman! You need to leave our dimension," the blue hedgehog told the alternate dimension villain.

Lord Eggman waved goodbye to Doctor Eggman. "I'll never forget you, friend," he said sadly.

"Yeah, yeah, just get outta here!" Eggman said, trying not to tear up.

"Shadow, if you would." Sonic motioned to the portal.

"With pleasure," Shadow replied then lifted off the ground so he could look Lord Eggman in the eye. Some things needed to be said. "Come back here, and I'll come for you," he hissed before going behind Lord Eggman and gave him the boot.

"Well, that takes care of that. I'll see myself out!" Eggman said cheerfully and made a move to leave before an Enerbeam wrapped around his torso.

"Oh, you're not getting let off easy, Egghead," Sonic snickered, handing the other end of his blue Enerbeam to Shadow.

"Try not to kill him, Shads."

Eggman paled as Shadow looked at him, a sadistic grin on his face. "Mombot…" the evil scientist whimpered as Sonic left the cave.

* * *

Orbot and Cubot fidgeted anxiously as they waited outside the cave with Sonic. The blue hedgehog was completely calm, even whistling as the anomaly cleared up and the skies over Seaside Island became blue once again.

"So Shadow was working for you this whole time?" Orbot asked, surprised when Sonic nodded.

"Huh…" Cubot scratched his head. "That explains why he keeps dropping by the lair and downloading all of Doctor Eggman's files from his computer when he's not looking," he remarked.

Sonic laughed just as he heard Eggman scream. Minutes later, Shadow emerged from his man cave, smirking, pulling a traumatized Eggman behind him. Looking closely, Sonic saw that the Doctor's mustache was gone.

"I see you helped Egghead improve his look," Sonic remarked, his green eyes sparkling with mirth.

"And I made sure to let him know that the next time he comes after you, Blue, he'll have _me _to deal with," Shadow added before releasing Eggman.

"Now get out of our sights."

Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot didn't need to be told twice.

Sonic and Shadow both laughed as the three of them ran for their lives.

"You're not going to throw a Chaos Spear at them?" Sonic bumped his hip against Shadow's.

"No, it'd be a waste of my energy," Shadow chuckled then glanced at Sonic with half-lidded eyes. "I think my energy will be better used on more… _important things_," he purred, snaking one arm behind the blue hedgehog.

Sonic let out a squeak as his tail was pinched. "B-but my friends…" he managed to mumble before moaning as Shadow gently massaged his lower back.

"Oh, I'm sure they won't mind us missing for a little while," Shadow said in a husky voice that he knew that worked on Sonic like a charm before scooping the blue hedgehog up into his arms. He smirked at the girlish squeal that came out of the Blue Blur's mouth and, not wasting another second, carried him into his man cave.

* * *

"Where are they…?" Tails mumbled, looking out the window to his workshop. He and the rest of the team had gone back once the anomaly had stopped. But Shadow and Sonic hadn't returned and he was getting worried.

Sticks snickered as she carved notches into her staff. "Probably off doing couple stuff," she said before going wide-eyed. "Unless Shadow's reverted to his alien instincts and is brainwashing Sonic to be his co-conqueror when he takes over the entire universe!" she exclaimed.

"I don't think mind control's an ability Shadow possesses," Amy piped up, polishing her hammer. "Still, I think we need to have a chat with those two regarding keeping secrets."

"Given that he and Shadow look and act like polar opposites in public and that most of our encounters with Shadow were more or less hostile, he and Sonic probably didn't want us to know about their relationship because they both knew that we wouldn't fully understand," Knuckles suddenly said, earning surprised looks from the others.

"I can't believe I'm saying this… but Knuckles has a point," Tails mumbled, putting a hand to his chin.

None of them knew how Sonic and Shadow started seeing each other as more than just rivals. The two must have often crossed paths when no one else was around and, over time, feelings must have formed and then blossomed into a relationship. And given all of their interactions with Shadow in the past, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles had always thought of the Ultimate Lifeform as dark, brooding, and borderline overly edgy.

How Sonic managed to thaw Shadow's cold heart was a mystery. But Tails took comfort in knowing that his brother was happy and that he finally found someone he could love without fear of leaving them behind.

As Tails thought about all this, he spotted two figures approaching the workshop.

"Hey guys!" Sonic waved to his friends, praying to Chaos that they wouldn't notice his slight limp. He gave Shadow a half-hearted glare, the Ultimate Lifeform merely smiling and winking at him.

"Sonic! Thank goodness!" Amy ran over to the blue hedgehog and gave him a hug. Turning to Shadow, she smiled. "Hey, Shadow. Would it be all right if the gang and I talked to you for a moment?"

"I don't see why not, Rose," Shadow said, unaware of what was in store for him.

"You go on ahead and rest, Sonic. I'm sure you must be tired," Amy said sweetly to the cobalt speedster as she pulled Shadow over to Tails' workshop.

'_More than you know, Ames,' _Sonic thought, smiling wryly to himself, as he headed to his shack for a much-needed nap. He woke up about an hour later and made his way down to the beach.

Shadow was there and, to Sonic's confusion, looked… dare he say it… _terrified_.

"You okay, Shads?" Sonic sat next to the Ultimate Lifeform.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just fine." Shadow gave his boyfriend a weak smile. "It's just that your friends…" he trailed off, swallowing.

"Oh, Chaos…" Sonic shook his head, exasperated. "Did they give you the shovel talk?" he asked.

"Rose told me that she will flatten me like a pancake with her hammer. Knuckles said that he will break every bone in my body. Sticks threatened to cut my throat in my sleep. And Miles…" Shadow shuddered as he remembered the fox boy's warning. "He said that if I hurt you, he'll take me apart and turn me into a toaster oven."

Sonic sighed and gently patted his boyfriend's back. "Hey, we've been together for almost three years. You're still alive, aren't you?" he joked.

"That's because none of them knew." Shadow rested his head on Sonic's shoulder, sighing. "But now they do. I know we talked about coming out to them. I… just didn't think it'd happen so soon like this," he admitted.

"Same." Sonic nuzzled him and smiled softly. "Give them time. They'll warm up to you," he reassured the Ultimate Lifeform.

The sun was beginning to set. Just a while ago, the world had nearly gotten destroyed. Now, it looked like nothing had happened.

But Sonic and Shadow knew that things would never be the same for them. Eggman now knew about their relationship and, without a doubt, was hatching up plans to use this to his advantage. And the rest of Sonic's friends now knew about them, too. Things were changing for all of them, really.

'_But,' _Sonic thought optimistically. _'at least Shadow and I don't have to hide anymore…' _Looking at his boyfriend, he smiled. "I guess this makes you a member of Team Sonic," he said to Shadow, who snorted.

"Am I going to have to move to a hut that's near yours and the rest of the team's for group meetings?" Shadow asked him, ruby-red eyes shining playfully.

"Only if you want to. You can crash at my place anytime," Sonic replied, blushing. "Um… after I make a few repairs…" he added. His shack was, while clean, near-dilapidated in structure.

Chuckling, Shadow scooched closer to him. "I suggest adding a door." With a mischievous smile, he placed his lips close to Sonic's ear. "And thicker walls," he whispered.

It took a minute for Sonic to figure out what his boyfriend was really suggesting and went bright red. He looked at Shadow and couldn't help but smile back with half-lidded eyes. "I'll take your suggestions into consideration," he chuckled. _'And I better have Tails give Shadow his own communicator,' _he mentally added as he and Shadow watched the sunset.

"Hey, Shads?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

Shadow glanced at the Blue Blur and their eyes met. Sonic smiled brightly at him, his emerald green orbs filled with love for the black hedgehog beside him.

"I love you, too." With a smile of his own, Shadow leaned in and tenderly kissed the blue hedgehog as the setting sun's rays washed over them.

* * *

**Whoo! This second part took a little while longer to finish than I originally thought.**

**Since we were never given a third season for Sonic Boom, I've started developing ideas for my own take on a third season that includes Sonadow and a child OC that these two sweet gay hogs end up adopting. PM me, if you wanna, know more ;) I think I'll write this after I finish "My Past is Not a Pretty Place."**

**Anyway, read and review! And Advanced Happy New Year :D**

**-GuardianDragon98**


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